


Passed Down

by MarsDragon



Category: Lunar (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 13:09:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12133191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsDragon/pseuds/MarsDragon
Summary: All Dragonmasters grow up on the stories of their predecessors.





	Passed Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kandrona](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kandrona/gifts).



"Take it back!" "No!" "I'll-!" "Noooooooo!"

Claire the blacksmith heard the familiar sounds of a child's scuffle outside and sighed. Those two never changed. She put down her tea, picked up the quench bucket in one broad hand, and stepped outside to see what Alicia and Laticia were fighting about this time.

The little brats were brawling right in front of the Goddess Statue. Alicia had a fistful of her sister's hair in one hand, and Laticia was shoving back as best she could. From the minor scrapes on Alicia's elbow, it was obvious she hadn't gone down quietly. Both of their dresses were covered in dirt, and Laticia's shift was torn and hanging down. Other than that, they looked fine. Just caterwauling like demons from the Frontier. 

Claire rubbed at her temple, feeling tired. She was an old hedgehog by now, far too old for understanding how just two children could be so loud. She set the bucket down and crossed her arms, getting ready for one good bellow. 

"What in the name of the Blue Star do you think you're doing?!"

Both the girls stopped dead. They slowly turned to Claire, guilt written all over their faces. After a second, Alicia let go of Laticia's hair and tucked her hands behind her back, the picture of childish innocence. Laticia sniffed a bit, but smoothed out her skirts and tried to look just as perfectly innocent as her sister.

Claire wasn't fooled. "I can't believe either of you, brawling in front of the Goddess like a pair of common jays! There'd better be a good explanation for this!" 

"She started it!" Both the twins pointed at their sister, and on realising they had been sold out, rounded on each other again.

Claire hefted the quench bucket in warning.

Alicia shifted uncomfortably, bit her lip, and finally said: "Well, well...Laticia said she'd be Dragonmaster instead of me, and it's not true! I'm going to be Dragonmaster instead of her!"

"I am though!" Laticia piped up. "You need to be smart to be a Dragonmaster! All Alicia can do is swing sticks around!" 

"Neither of you will be Dragonmaster like this!" Claire said sharply, before the argument could start again. "Do you think the Goddess Althena will be happy, seeing you fight with your sister right in front of Her? Hmm?"

Both the twins' faces screwed up in shame. "No..." Laticia allowed, Alicia nodding along.

"That's right. The Goddess is pleased when people _help_ each other, and when they _work together_ in Her service." Claire waited until the twins looked appropriately chastised before patting them on the head. "It's not fighting that pleases Her, and especially not fighting between family. Now. Apologize to your sister and apologize to Althena."

Each twin got a mumbled apology out of her sister before they bowed to Althena and prayed for the Goddess' forgiveness while Claire kept an eye on them the whole time. Such a wild pair they were, she thought. Alicia was a promising young dancer, but all she wanted to do was run about hitting people with sticks and calling it sword practice. Laticia had the making of a lovely singer, but was obsessed with going to Vane despite not a single person in the village having the money. To top it all off, they both wanted to be Dragonmaster. It would be better if they'd settle down, but...what were dreams for, if not the young? 

The twins finished their prayer and Alicia solemnly held her arm up to Claire to show the fresh pink skin: proof of her sincerity and Althena's forgiveness. Claire nodded in acceptance. "Good, and remember not to do it in the future." Scolding over, she let her stern face slip and smiled. "Now that's taken care of, do you want to hear stories of real Dragonmasters?"

Both girls whooped in pleasure and rushed towards the smithy, while Claire followed behind with the heavy bucket. By the time she arrived Laticia was tidying up the scraps that always seemed to accumulate on the floor and Alicia had set the old kettle over the fire for tea. Well, they certainly knew how to butter her up. Claire dragged out her stool, a requirement for an old hedgehog, and settled herself on it as the girls perched themselves together on the bench, faces alight with anticipation.

"Now," Claire began, "where shall I start? Dragonmaster Leon, fast and strong as a summer storm? Dragonmaster Nike, who mastered all the dragons' power at once and fought a demon from the Blue Star to a standstill over three days and nights?" She drew it out, closing her eyes and humming as if she were considering a very important decision. It was all a show, of course, but the girls played along, as they always did. Finally she opened her eyes again, saying: "But the best place to start is the beginning. Let me tell you about Dragonmaster Louie.

"Louie was the first human to set foot on our world, when Althena carried us here in the flaming chariot of Apollo. Originally-" 

"Who was Apollo? Why did he have a flaming chariot?" Alicia interrupted.

"Some old god of the Blue Star, I think. As for the chariot...well, gods just have things like that." Claire saw the telltale signs of Alicia getting ready to interrupt again and cut her off. "I don't know what happened to Apollo, but he isn't around anymore and Althena has his flaming chariot. And that's all anyone needs to worry about. Now, as I was saying..." she paused, but neither of the twins spoke up, so she was able to continue.

"Originally it was Lunar that was a barren, lifeless waste, but it was made into our green and lovely world by Althena's magic after a demon destroyed the Blue Star. And to protect us on this new world, Althena chose Louie to be the Dragonmaster, her representative to the people. Some say he was Althena's acolyte, some say her nephew, but all agree he was chosen for his kindness, his devotion to Althena, and his wonderful singing. 

"For Althena was wise and saw it was not strength of arms humanity needed in those first days, but strength of spirit. Louie had the ability to cheer others, to encourage, to inspire. Louie walked among the terrified and uncertain people who had lost everything they had ever known and sang songs of hope and remembrance, and brought peace and joy to those desperate days. And we should remember that always, that in the beginning the Dragonmaster was not a position of war or battle, but of healing hearts and souls." 

"But, but I heard-" Alicia said, tripping over her words in haste, "it wasn't Louie who was the first, but Dragonmaster Steve!"

Laticia agreed. "The traveling merchant last month said he'd been to Kirlis and seen Steve's footprint, and it was the first step anyone had ever taken on the world." She paused and racked her brains for memories, finally coming up with: "He said the people there charged three silvers to see it, and it was a giant boot like nothing he'd ever seen before." Alicia nodded along with her sister, with far more enthusiasm.

"Well...some say Dragonmaster Steve was first," Claire allowed, letting her voice show what she thought of that. "But my mother heard from her mother, and from her mother before that, and back and back, that it was Louie who was the first Dragonmaster. Steve was the second, after the Vile Tribe chose to shun the Goddess' light and rebelled. They attacked the new settlements, burning entire villages, and with great sorrow Althena was forced to choose a new Dragonmaster, one who could fight and defeat the cursed Vile Tribe."

That got Alicia and Laticia leaning forward with eager interest. Claire decided to keep this part of the story short. "Dragonmaster Steve was brave and famed across Lunar for being strong in the arm. He drove the Vile Tribe back to the Frontier, where they have lived ever since."

"Tell us about the Vile Tribe!" Laticia begged for once, though Alicia was only too happy to back her up.

"Well...they're terrible demons who rejected the Goddess' light," Claire said, trying to get off the subject. She took a long sip of tea and thought of how to redirect the girls' attentions. "They live out in the Frontier, in the barren wastes where Althena's light does not shine and the land is as it was before She came. They hate us children of Althena and live only to destroy beauty and joy. You know..." Claire paused to let the girls lean even further in. "There's a story about Dragonmaster Chloe and a demon from the Frontier."

The twins said nothing, but held still in anticipation.

"Dragonmaster Chloe was a brave and wise beastwoman, who favored not the wild swing of the blade, but the dance of magic. She was a tall seagull, with snowy white wings tipped in black. Have either of you ever seen a seagull, girls?" 

The twins shook their heads, like Claire knew they would. The village was too far inland, meaning the bulk of their trade came from humans and long-ranging canines, not seagulls. "They're bird-people, and you'll usually find them around ports or sailing the great ocean. They're famed traders - you'll never feel like you've gotten a better deal, even when they walk away with the clothes off your back." 

Claire took a sip of tea, realised how that had sounded, and backtracked. "Of course, most of them are honest and fair.

"Anyway, Chloe was a seagull who became Dragonmaster. She wandered far and wide, but when word reached her of trouble at Vane she came rushing home. A terrible demon had taken up residence in the Silver Spire, and-"

"The Silver Spire is a tower in Vane, where they can see and control everything that happens in the city!" Laticia burst out, looking pleased with her knowledge. 

"That's right," Claire said, "so having a demon there was a big problem. Chloe arrived at Vane with Jevron, a pious and dignified priest of Althena she had met on her travels, and once there she allied with Miruka, the Primer of the Magic Guild. And so the three of them advanced on the Silver Spire, which was covered in a thick, inky blackness." Claire dropped her voice to a chilling whisper. "It was the darkness of the demon's hatred."

Alicia and Laticia shivered, as required.

"Chloe and her companions walked through the spire. The mirrored halls were cold, their shining light snuffed out. Every twist and turn held a monster, and soon Jevron's voice was hoarse and cracked from praying. Chloe and the Miruka drew out their magic as best they could, but even that began to wear thin as they approached the top.

"And once they arrived..." Claire drew the moment out, building the tension until the twin's eyes were as wide as they would go. "They saw it! A demon carved from the night sky, with fangs as long as a man's arm! Claws to rend boulders! Wings to create storms! And on its head...a single, shining, silver circlet.

"The demon lashed out, and Chloe defended with the power of the White Dragon. Jevron called upon Althena, but his small words were swallowed by the demon's roar. Miruka called down fire and ice, but the demon was crafted from the void between Lunar and the Blue Star, and her spells disappeared into darkness.

"The demon caught Jevron with its massive claws, and he fell to the ground unconscious. It breathed a cloud of pure darkness at Miruka, and she was left blinded and confused. And like that-" Claire snapped her fingers for emphasis "Chloe fought alone."

The twins were silent, hanging on her every word.

"The demon swung its claws, and Chloe dodged with her great wings. The demon breathed out darkness, and Chloe banished it with the fire of the Red Dragon. The demon pounded its own wings, and Chloe held her ground with her steady stance. Around and around the Star Chamber they went, neither able to defeat the other. Until Chloe noticed something out of the corner of her eye."

"What? What did she see?" The girls clamoured.

"She saw the mirrors that ringed the chamber, and noticed something very, very strange. She was reflected there, and Jevron, and Miruka...but not the demon. Instead there was a long-haired woman wearing a silver circlet, and that woman was weeping. Weeping as if she would die of her sorrow.

"Chloe, exhausted and barely able to call upon her magic, staked everything on one final blow. She lept into the air, carried on her weary wings, and dived towards the demon's head. It caught her, the claws squeezing her her nearly in half, but she stretched her neck, stretched it as far as it would go...and tore the circlet away with her beak.

"The change was instantaneous!" Claire clapped her hands together, just to watch the twins jump. "The demon's body faded away like smoke on the wind, and all that was left was a woman sobbing on the floor."

"The demon was just a woman the entire time?" Alicia sounded disappointed.

"She had been under a curse," Claire explained. "The woman told the three heroes her story, that once she had been a young wizard of Vane with a taste for travel. Her wanderings took her all over Lunar, until curiosity overtook her sense and she ventured into the Frontier. Once there she was captured by the Vile Tribe and given a terrible curse. She was transformed into that horrible demon and set back to wandering with only scattered memories of her former life. Those scattered memories led her back to her home in Vane....which is what the Vile Tribe wanted all along."

Both the girls mulled over this. "She should've just stayed home," Laticia declared.

"That's boring. She should've just fought off the Vile Tribe!" Alicia said, eyes aglow. "That's what I would've done! Bang! Pow! No more waylaying innocents!"

"The Vile Tribe is _very strong_ " Claire interrupted firmly. "The best thing to do would've just been to avoid the Frontier. Now.

“Once the woman was freed, Chloe and her companions sealed the terrible circlet in the very depths of the Silver Spire, never to be seen again by the eyes of human or beast. The woman settled back into her former life. And Dragonmaster Chloe set forth once more to serve Althena, rescue innocents, and defy evil."

"...is that it?" Laticia asked.

Alicia kicked her heels. "I want to go to the Frontier someday," she said wistfully. "And fight a demon and win."

"You'd lose." Laticia said, which nearly set them to fighting again.

Claire interrupted before that could happen. "Girls! Girls! Listen. Don't go to the Frontier. It's dangerous. More importantly, this story teaches a lesson."

Neither twin looked enthusiastic about a lesson, but Claire plowed ahead anyway.

"Chloe showed great judgement when she fought the demon. She didn't just try to kill it, she recognized what was going on underneath and took care to rescue the poor cursed woman. In your lives, if you have trouble with someone, take care to try and understand what's going on. Perhaps there's more than you know." Claire sat back on her stool, feeling tired. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," the girls chorused, though it seemed more like habit than anything else. "Can we watch when you make something? Like a sword?" Alicia added hopefully. 

"This village doesn't need swords," Claire replied as she stood and stretched. She ruffled her quills out and back down again, feeling oddly compressed for just sitting down for a time. "But we do need pots and pans, so if you'd get some of the ingots from the pile while I stoke the forge..."

"I want to stoke the forge!" Laticia said, but ran to ferry the iron as soon as it looked like Alicia would get there first.

Claire sighed. She could only hope they'd calm down as they grew.

* * *

"...the woman's hair was red as blood, her skin as pale as starlight, her eyes as black as the void. And as Alicia and Laticia struggled to their feet, she smiled. 'Once you are dead, there will be nothing between me and Althena,' she said, slow and cruel. 'The time of the goddess of song and dance is over. Soon Lunar shall see the birth of a new goddess: the goddess of war.'"

Luna gasped and ducked beneath the covers with only her eyes peeking out. Alex was braver, but Alli Noa could see him shivering a bit beneath his own blankets. She smiled reassuringly at both her children. 

"Alicia and Laticia both stood at the same moment. 'Don't think you'll get rid of us that easily!' Laticia warned. 'That's right,' Alicia said, 'as long as we stand together, your plan isn't worth more than the breath you spent explaining it!'

"'Impudent!' the dark sorceress snarled, and hurled bolts of sickly green magic at the twin Dragonmaster. But Laticia called the words of her spell, and the magic dissolved into nothingness before it could touch her sister. Then Alicia burst forward, using the very last of her strength to shatter the dark sorceress' staff with one mighty blow!"

"Yeah!" Alex cheered, much too loud for a boy that was supposed to be falling asleep. "Go Alicia!"

"While the sorceress reeled, Laticia called forth the fire of the heavens, dropping bolts of lightning on her foe. And when the sorceress was near defeat and reached out one last time to strike at Laticia, Alicia was there to block the evil magic from touching her sister. And so the usurper was defeated before she could hurt the goddess Althena, and peace returned to Lunar."

Alex snuggled into bed with the cheerful look of one who would never admit to doubting the happy ending. Luna poked her head out from under the covers and gave Alli a small smile. "Thank you for the lovely story."

"Yeah, thanks!" Alex chimed in, after the reminder.

"Of course, anything for my favourite children." Alli reached out to ruffle both the kids' hair. "Alicia and Laticia were strong because they looked out for each other. Alex, Luna, you're both growing up together, in the same house. That's a fact that won't change, no matter how old you get. So remember to always look out for and protect each other, just like Alicia and Laticia, all right?"

"Of course! Someone has to make sure Alex doesn't eat bugs," Luna giggled, ignoring Alex sticking his tongue out at her. 

"Good, good. Now get some sleep, both of you." Alli stood up and blew out the candle by the bed. The light of the Blue Star was the only illumination left, painting the whole room in a soft blue glow. Alex and Luna both wrapped themselves up in the blankets and settled down, though Alli knew perfectly well they'd be whispering to each other half the night.

Strange, she thought as she looked back one last time before shutting the door. Luna's hair nearly perfectly matched the faint light of the Blue Star.

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant for worldbuildingex, but... Well, better late than never, right?
> 
> The games say that the first Dragonmaster was named Louie, but a later interview with the director said that the first Dragonmaster was named Steve. He probably just forgot a random tidbit they'd put in a game over a decade ago, but that gave me a great opportunity and I ran with it. It's up to you how much Dragonmaster Steve was an actual Dragonmaster and how much was confused social memories of the moon landing a few thousand years and an apocalypse later. 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this and showing off past Dragonmasters and what stories got passed down, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as well.


End file.
